Twice Tempted: Between Two Alphas (Mia and Cameron)

Chapter 78

Chapter Seventy-Eight

They insisted I shift.

Then they did too.

We curled up on that sunbed, the three of us, our wolves blissfully content, and basking beneath a

three-quarter moon. The stars moved across the sky.

I slept for a while.

When I woke, Cam wrapped me in a towel and kissed my forehead. “Go back to sleep, honey,” he tells

me.

So I do.

The sun has risen when I wake.

Eric and Cameron are seated at a table having breakfast.

I’m in a plush robe, which is a bit less scandalous than the towel, so I’m grateful one of them realized

I’d be a little shy. Not around them.

The crew.

After last night… there isn’t an inch of my body they haven’t touched or tasted.

“Jacob’s tracked down the source of vamps.”

I stand and join them at the table. Cameron pours me orange juice.

“They’re pulling those wraiths off the streets. Looks to be San Francisco. Homeless, addicts, humans

they thought they might turn, but then decided not to. It looks like they source the wraiths from the Bay

Area.”

“That’s why it was so easy for them to air-drop onto my lands.”

“Yes,” Cameron agrees. “But I have a plan…My pack’s going to focus on the vampires. Instead of

killing them, we’re going to restrain them. Feed them. They’re tied to their masters, so inevitably, the

master will need them to die or convert them fully, lest it draw too much of a master vampire’s vitality.”

Eric nods. “It could work.”

“We’ll be ready.”

I think of the vampires in New Orleans. “Why are some of those bloodsuckers so civil and these others

so mindless and savage?”

Eric shrugs. “Aside from the difference between wraiths and truebloods, vampires are a lot like wolves.

They have their own factions. Their own rules. Their own cultures.”

“What about you?” Cam asks Eric. “What’s your play?”

“I need to take out Philipe. He’s not going to stop until one of us is dead.”

I frown.

He bumps my shoulder. “It’s not going to be me.”

“I need to learn more about my lineage,” I tell them.

“We know,” Cam says.

I hear a helicopter in the distance. “No! Already?”

He rises then leans down to kiss me gently. “We have a family, Mia. Until this threat is eradicated, they

won’t be safe.” He hands a jumpdrive to Eric.

“What’s this?”

“Jacob compiled files on everything he could find on Philipe and Ashley. No one has seen her. But

Jacob has some surveillance footage that puts her in Seattle. She could be anywhere now. The drive

has his tracking software.”

“Thank you.”

“If you catch one, my money’s on the other one coming calling.”

“Agreed,” Eric says. Then he holds out his hand to Cameron and they shake. “Thank you, my friend.

For everything.”

Cam nods. He drops one more kiss on my mouth. “I’ll see you home soon, honey. Call if you need me.”

“I will,” I tell him.

He waves and jogs up to the upper deck. He squats down as the chopper lands, and then he ducks

and runs beneath the blades.

When he lifts off, I feel sad. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Hey now,” Eric whispers. “It’s going to be alright.”

“I know,” I say. And I want to believe that.

The steward approached with a fresh tray of food for me. Eggs, fruit, bacon and sausage. Crispy fried

potatoes and biscuits.

“Thank you,” I say.

“Of course, miss.” This servant is maybe thirty. He gives a short bow and then moves away. The model

of discretion.

“Hey, Steven,” Eric calls.

“Yes, sir.” The man pivots. His brown eyes are patient.

“Tell the captain to take us to Blakely Island.”

“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”

Eric pushes my plate closer to me. “Eat.”

When I’m finished, Eric walks me to the master suite. He runs a bath for me and then leaves me to my

privacy.

I bathe and dress and then curl up on the bed. He knocks before entering the room. “We’re close,” he

tells me.

“Okay.”

I follow him back out and as we walk I watch the change in him.

He stops and squares his legs, rolls his shoulders.

Gone is the sophisticated meal companion. Gone is the lover.

He is an Alpha now, and he’s ready for anything.

The change is abrupt and as he flexes his hands and holds his arm out for me precede him toward the

gangplank, I marvel at the shifts in this man.

“It’s scary, how you do that.”

He doesn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I am what the situation requires me to be.”

It’s true.

He’s fierce at times. Cold and calculating at others. Sometimes he’s charming. He can be kind. He’s a

veritable god in bed.

Right now… he is focused.

“What will you do when we find Ashley?”

His eyes flash gold. His hatred is a pulse of power that is vicious.

She killed his sister, orchestrated an attack on his pack.

His justice will be swift and fierce.

“What will I do? Don’t ask.”

I follow him off the gangplank to the dock and we walk to the end.

Three women stand there, waiting. They wear white.

They’re all dark-skinned with long hair. Their ages range from early twenties to what might be over

eighty.

“Welcome, Mia Riorsen. We’ve been waiting for you.”

The youngest one turns to Eric. “Alpha MacPhearson, thank you for delivering our Sister to us. We

wish you safe travels.”

Eric crosses his arms. “I’m staying with her.”

Their eyes flutter backwards and then they smile. It’s… creepy.

“I’m coming with Mia,” Eric tells them. “I’m her mate.”

“Is that so?” The old Seer cackles. “That is not what we See.”